Is it too close

Inside the room.

"Yuyou, don't move just yet. Let me see how this is wrapped. Would tying it into a bow be better?"

Two girls were sitting on the bed. At the moment, Bai Yuyou only had a few red gift ribbons tied around her body, with a bow deliberately tied in front.

Tang Keke was busy adjusting the bow while also studying how to achieve a one-hit KO. Her focused expression made her look like an expert.

"Hmm, this bow is good. Even if brother pounces, a single pull will undo it." Tang Keke gestured with her fingers under her chin. Although the sight of the girl sitting in a 'duck sit' pose was incredibly cute and alluring, she still felt something was missing.

"Hmm?" Bai Yuyou felt a chill on her body. Noticing Tang Keke scrutinizing her, she asked,

"Will doing this really work?"

"Of course! This is a nuclear-level weapon." Tang Keke patted her large schoolbag as a guarantee. No one could withstand this attack.

Bai Yuyou didn't quite understand. After all, she used to take baths with Ye Shuang often, and she was always naked then too. Why was adding some ribbons different?

Also, Bai Yuyou felt she somewhat resembled a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling).

Was it to look more delicious?

"This is called 'half-concealed, half-revealed'. Oh, right..." Tang Keke smacked her fist into her palm, as if suddenly realizing something.

"Your expression. Your expression is too detached, too devoid of desire. That won't do."

"Come on, give me a smile."

On Bai Yuyou's expressionless face, a stiff smile was forced out.

"Forget it, forget it. That's not quite right." Tang Keke felt it didn't look good. She thought for a moment, then used two fingers to lift the corners of the girl's mouth.

"Come on, smile like this."

"Mmm."

"No, no, too stiff." Tang Keke finally gave up on that idea. Bai Yuyou's natural smile was beautiful, but it was almost never seen.

An SSR-tier rare expression.

Tang Keke thought for a bit, feeling she needed to change her approach. "Yuyou, do you remember what I taught you before?"

"I remember," Bai Yuyou said softly. "It was that line: 'I am your gift.'"

"Yes, but it's still missing a little something." Tang Keke racked her brains, and finally, her little head thought of a key element. "Add a 'meow'."

"Meow?"

"Yes!"

Bai Yuyou didn't really get it, but she still tried making a cat-paw gesture like Tang Keke and softly said,

"I am your gift, meow~"

The girl's stunning beauty combined with the cute gesture and line instantly pierced through Tang Keke's HP bar.

"Oooh oooh oooh, that's it! Full marks!" Tang Keke's eyes lit up. "A mere brother? Guaranteed capture!"

"Oh?" Although Bai Yuyou didn't quite understand the difference from before, as long as she did it this way, it should be fine, right?

She just wanted Ye Shuang to stay by her side. As long as Ye Shuang would like it, that was enough.

Just at that moment, a knock sounded on the bedroom door.

A familiar voice came through as well.

"Hey, Keke, Yuyou, are you in there?"

Hearing that it was actually Chen Qin's voice, Tang Keke jolted in surprise. She hurriedly looked at Bai Yuyou, who was currently dressed as a Christmas gift, and began to fluster about.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!"

"Eek, Yuyou, don't open the door yet, put your clothes on!"

"Panties, your panties!"

"Where's your bra?"

Chen Qin, standing outside the door, had originally been about to turn the doorknob. Hearing Tang Keke's faint voice from inside, her expression froze.

This...

It probably isn't what I'm thinking, right?

After a while, Tang Keke opened the door. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, her face was flushed, and behind her, Bai Yuyou, sitting on the bed, had wrinkled clothes, with even her collar flipped up.

Chen Qin: "..."

Sigh.

"Did I... interrupt you two?"

"N-no, not at all! Sister Chen Qin, what brings you here?" Tang Keke asked, even glancing back into the room somewhat guiltily, as if afraid Chen Qin might see something.

Chen Qin looked at the cat, Yi Wan, in her arms, then at Tang Keke, and tentatively asked,

"So... it seems I came at a bad time?"

"Not at all."

Chen Qin hesitated, wanting to say more. Then, remembering the matter with Chen Hai, she pinched the bridge of her nose as if with a headache. "It's nothing, really. Okay, I'll go downstairs first and sit with Ye for a bit."

"Oh, okay."

After Chen Qin went back downstairs, Ye Shuang was still at the water bar steeping some black tea. Seeing Chen Qin holding the cat and looking like she had something to say, he asked,

"Why are you down so soon? What are those two up to upstairs?"

"They, they were..." Chen Qin held back for a moment, then gave Ye Shuang a suggestive wink. "Hmm~"

Ye Shuang didn't understand, but mimicked Chen Qin's expression with a wink of his own. "Hmm?"

"Ye, tell me, have Keke and Yuyou been getting very close recently?" Chen Qin moved closer to Ye Shuang and suddenly lowered her voice to ask.

"Why do you ask? They get along so well, they're together all the time anyway," Ye Shuang said with a smile. Besides, living upstairs and downstairs now, and with Keke's parents not cooking, Ye Shuang had told Keke to just come eat here.

Moreover, being with Keke had gradually made Yuyou more outgoing and expressive.

"No, I mean... closer than ordinary friends."

"That's normal, right? Like best friends?" Ye Shuang didn't quite grasp Chen Qin's meaning. Besides, what's wrong with two girls being close? At the very least, they can support and help each other.

Chen Qin didn't know how to explain it either, even doubting whether she had heard wrong earlier. Could it have been a misunderstanding?

It was certainly possible. But seeing Tang Keke's expression when she opened the door, she couldn't immediately figure out what else it could have been.

"Have they been keeping anything from you lately? Things you don't know about?" Chen Qin asked.

"Things I don't know about?" Ye Shuang smiled, initially about to say that Yuyou wouldn't keep things from him, but then suddenly remembered the mysterious parcel before Chen Qin arrived.

"There is something. They seemed to have bought something online and wouldn't let me see it," Ye Shuang said.

"Computer parts?!"

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Ye Shuang thought for a moment. "I wouldn't know. They didn't show me. But after they got the package, they went upstairs and haven't come down since."

"That's it!" Chen Qin seemed to have understood everything. "Ah, ah ah ah, ah ah!"

Ye Shuang: "?"

"I might be falling behind the times." Chen Qin sighed, holding Yi Wan, then reached out and patted Ye Shuang's shoulder.

"Ye, you need to be careful around Chen Hai lately. No, not just lately. You'd better be on guard against him. Absolutely do not go out to play with him alone."

"Why are you suddenly talking about Chen Hai?" Ye Shuang's face was a picture of confusion.